GOOGLE

I, like many people, LOVE Google and all that it has to offer whether it is Google Docs, Google Scholar, Google Books, Google Calendar or Google Earth. Google makes all of its tools so easy to use and share with others, I am constantly convincing people to use all of it’s tools.

I started using Google Docs only a few months ago and fell in love with all that it has to offer and its ease of use. My sister had always told me to keep using Docs to share information, like recipes, but we never really to the plunge. Now that I am back in school I started using it for my assignments, either for group collaboration or to check with TAs to make sure my I am headed in the right direction for my assignment. Google Docs is really a great way to collaborate with fellow workers and create forms for collaboration, especially within a library setting.

Google Book Search is another very helpful tool that I have been using for a while. It allows you to search full texts for content, and allowing you to read samples of books. I used it a lot in undergrad if I did not have the book with me to quote or get the information that I needed to do assignments or readings for classes. I have also used it to get samples of books to ensure that I liked them before I purchased or borrowed from the library. This would be such a valuable tool for reference librarians, they would be able to search for books and give information on a title that is more user friendly then the abstracts or catalog information.

I am constantly on Google Earth, using it to get directions see where different places are and to see what they look like, especially if I am driving to them and have never seen them. I love being able to see where I am going before I go there or see places that I that I have never like my sister’s neighborhood and house in Salt Lake City. This is another tool that is very useful for reference librarians as a way to show people information on places in a much more visually understandable way than a regular map. 

Like I said I love Google and hope to learn more about all the tools that it has along with new tools that it develops down the road.

Cheers